A pair of civil engineering technology students in Corner Brook would love to be able to lend a hand to the design of the realignment of Route 460.

Flooding on White’s Road near Noel’s Pond has been a problem for years, often causing traffic delays and even shutting down the highway at times.

Transportation and Works Minister Nick McGrath recently announced construction will soon begin on a new bypass road. The realignment of Route 460 from Gull Pond to Route 490 is expected to encompass about six kilometres of roadway.

Jonathan Aylward — who partnered with Brandon Duffy on the project — worked with the Department of Transportation and Works for two summer placements. When faced with the Capstone Project as part of the College of the North Atlantic program, he said department employees suggested the Noel’s Pond realignment.

The students estimated the total cost of the project would be at about $8 million, and it would take from April this year until mid-September 2016 to complete.

They hope the department will use at least some of their data, making their effort really worthwhile.

“It would mean a lot to me,” Duffy said. “To see it going places would feel good, because we did this and it could help the people of those communities where this is a safety problem.”

While being able to state on a resume that your engineering work led to an actual project would mean a lot to a pair of students entering the workforce, Aylward admits he has another personal motivating factor.

After spending time working on highways, he said his two children have asked if he built this road or that road as they are driving. It would be nice to proudly say he contributed to such a project, but also to prove to his children that they can achieve certain goals in life.

“It would be good for them to see in the future, if they choose an engineering program or something else, that they can influence what happens in the world,” Aylward said.